Cliché Endings
by a novelist
Summary: Not everyone gets their cliché ending. Oneshot.


I was kind of wary about writing this, but I decided to give it a shot. Constructive criticism is welcome.

This was inspired by Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings".

Enjoy.

* * *

><p>She's sitting across from him and her, the happy couple in love. His fiancé is showing off the new diamond on her left hand, the everlasting symbol of love. And as she boasts about his elaborate proposal and their upcoming plans, the single brunette can only force a smile.<p>

After all, not everyone gets their cliché ending.

/

/

His bachelor party is held the night before the wedding. His closest friends take him out for a night of excitement – his last evening as a single man. They hit up bar after bar downtown Los Angeles, drinking until they can hardly stand for more than a few minutes. By the time they make their final stop, there's no denying their drunkenness.

Beck stumbles up to the bar and pulls himself up onto the barstool. Against his better judgment, he orders another drink. As he's waiting, a familiar figure slides onto a barstool beside him.

"Didn't expect to find you here," Tori says, her voice beginning to slur.

He smirks in reply. "Same here," he says. The bartender places an overflowing mug on the counter, and Beck nods his thanks before continuing, "What are you doing here?"

She shrugs and takes a sip of her drink. "Hoping I drink enough to get through your wedding," she replies sourly. She glares down at the half-empty glass. She gently tilts the glass back and forth, back and forth, twirling the ice around in the remaining liquid. "What about you? I thought you were out with the guys."

He nods behind him before reaching for his drink. "I am," he replies. He turns toward his friends. "But it looks like they've ditched me."

She turns in her seat and follows his gaze.

Andre and Robbie have wandered their drunken selves over to a table of girls. As Beck and Tori watch, first Andre then Robbie leave the table, each with a gorgeous girl hanging on their arm.

Beck scoffs. "Nice." He downs his drink before standing up, clutching the edge of the bar tightly for support. "I guess I'm on my own."

But Tori shakes her head in response. "You're drunk," she says. "Can you even find a cab on your own?"

"You're drunk, too," he points out.

"Not as drunk as you." She, too, stands, pushing away her empty glass. She reaches out and takes his arm. "Come on, I'll get you to a cab and you'll be on your way." She manages a weak smile. "You need to rest up for tomorrow."

"Fine," he grumbles. He takes a step but stumbles, groping for support.

She tightens her grip and holds him steady with both hands. Despite the situation, a small smile plays on her lips. "You're going to be so screwed up tomorrow," she says.

He shakes his head slowly. "Don't remind me."

/

/

She remembers pulling up to his apartment and paying the cabbie for their fare. After that, the night is a blur.

She wakes up only half-dressed, a layer of thin white sheets wrapped around her. Sunlight pours into the room and onto the bed; she groans miserably at its brightness.

Her head is pounding, the room spinning, and it takes her a moment to realize that she isn't home. She's not in her apartment and in fact –

She's not alone.

Slowly, her hand creeps further under the sheets before making contact with another warm body. Her eyes widen as she makes note of the dark locks of hair sticking every which way from beneath the sheets. She takes in a sharp breath and smells the strong stench of cologne. At that moment, her entire world comes to a screeching halt.

"Oh, my God," she whispers. She sits up in bed and runs a hand over her face. "Oh my God, oh my God, what did we do?"

Beside her, Beck groans. "What time is it?" he mutters.

"_That's_ your first question?" she practically yells. She jumps out of bed, the sheet still wrapped around her. "Beckett Oliver, what – what did we – _how did this happen?"_

He crawls out of bed and quickly pulls on a pair of jeans. As he reaches for his shirt, he can only mutter, "I don't know. I don't know, it just – it's all just – " he sighs. "A nightmare."

Tori shakes her head vigorously. "This is worse than a nightmare," she says. She finishes getting dressed and slips on her shoes. "God, I can't believe this."

Beck wearily runs a hand over his face. "Jade was worried something like this might happen," he mutters, almost under his breath.

On the opposite side of the room, Tori continues to frantically gather her belongings, but still raises her eyebrows in curiosity. "Something like this?" she repeats.

He shrugs, and she can tell that he's hungover and miserable. Before he is aware of what he is saying, he mumbles, "She said I'd end up in bed with some slut if I..." he trails off without finishing.

Silence falls heavily in the room. He freezes for a moment before very slowly daring to turn back to Tori. The eyes that stare back at him are full of hurt and sadness. "Tori, I didn't - you know I'm not - I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

But she can only shake her head in response. "Right," she snaps, blinking back tears. She starts toward the door. "I'm leaving."

"I think that's best."

She yanks open the door but pauses to look back. She reaches up and wipes away a few stray tears before saying, "Jade cannot find out about this."

He scoffs. "Like I don't know that," he replies. He glances at the clock anxiously. "Just – if anyone asks where you were, you crashed at a friend's house. _Nothing_ happened here." He meets her eyes steadily. "Nothing at all."

She sighs. "Right," she whispers. She manages a weak smile and silently curses the way her heart sinks at his words. "I'll see you tonight, all right?"

He nods and watches as she leaves the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

He hates the empty feeling she leaves behind.

/

/

At fifteen to four, the bride prepares for the wedding with three of her four bridesmaids at hand.

"Where's Tori?" Jade grumbles. "She should have been here an hour ago."

"She'll be here." Jade's mother pins back a strand of dark hair, another bobby pin clenched between her teeth, ready for use. "Hold still, I'm almost done with your hair."

Jade makes a face in response. "Just don't make it too girly," she says. She closes her eyes and sighs.

Suddenly, Cat's cell phone beeps once, announcing a text message. Rolling her eyes, she snatches her phone off of the table. She quickly scans the message.

By this point, Jade has finished getting ready and is studying herself in the mirror. Even though she had decided to go against tradition and wore an elegant, floor-length black dress, none of the girls can deny that she looks beautiful.

"You look wonderful," her mother says with pride. "You will absolutely take Beck's breath away."

Jade smiles in response. "I know." She turns away from the mirror to look at Cat. "Who was that?" she asks. "Tori, I hope." She smooths out the hem of her dress. "If it is, tell her she'd better get here in the next few minutes, or – "

"She's not coming."

The room falls silent suddenly. A look of disbelief crosses Jade's face. Finally, she breaks the silence with a single word. "_What?"_ She crosses the room and snatches the phone from Cat. "Give me that."

"Jade, you might not want to – "

"Shut up!" she snaps. She begins to read the message. With each passing word, her heart pounds faster, and her rage grows stronger.

Cat steps toward the bride hesitantly. "Jade, now, don't do anything rash –"

Jade glares in response. Her fingers close tightly over the phone, and a moment later, it's flying across the room. It hits the wall and crashes to the floor with a _thud. _"If you'll excuse me," she says, "a certain bridesmaid is about to mysteriously go missing, and a certain groom may just turn up dead." She opens the door and calmly says, "I've got to prep my alibi." She storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

/

/

Less than two minutes later, they hear yelling from across the church. Within seconds, that yelling turns to screaming, and that screaming turns to the sound of breaking glass.

A moment later, Andre and Robbie stumble out of the groom's room, wide-eyed. They quickly shut the door behind them.

By this point, half the guests and the bridesmaids have come to see what the commotion is. Seeing two familiar faces, Cat quickly makes her way through the crowd and approaches the two groomsmen. "What happened?" she whispers.

Andre shrugs in response. "Jade just burst in and started yelling," he says. He sighs and shoves his hands into his pockets. "Apparently Beck ran into Tori at the bar last night, and somehow…I don't know, I guess he slept with her and Jade found out."

Robbie shakes his head slowly. "Never call the girl you sleep with a slut and expect to get away with it," he mutters. "This is horrible." He glances toward the closed door. "If I was Beck, I'd be running for my life right now."

Suddenly, silence falls in the groom's room. A moment later, the door reopens roughly. Jade storms out of the room, Beck hot on her heels.

"Jade, listen to me. It was _nothing._ I swear, we were – we were drunk. We were drunk and made a mistake – "

"Mistake? _Mistake?"_ Jade wheels around and meets Beck's eyes steadily. "No. Your mistake was having the guts to show your face at this church this evening." She points toward the door. "Now get out."

He scoffs at her words. "You can't just tell me to get out; it's a public church, and it's my wedding as well as yours."

"This wedding was off the moment you crawled into bed with my maid of honor," she snaps. She crosses her arms defiantly. "Now, if I was you, I'd leave while you still have your dignity somewhat intact."

All eyes are on the young couple now. Beck, fuming, runs a trembling hand through his hair. "Fine," he says. He fumbles in his pocket for his keys. "Fine. If you want me gone, I'm gone." He shrugs. "I'm out." He walks away, his head held high in false confidence. He pushes through the double doors and leaves the church.

He doesn't even make it to the street, but instead collapses on the stairs. He buries his face in his hands.

The feeling of emptiness returns. He's too miserable to care.

/

/

He goes back to their apartment to find his belongings sprawled outside the apartment complex. Clothes lay strewn across the brown, dying grass. Anything glass or fragile has been destroyed either by hand or by impact of hitting the firm, cold ground. Carefully, he picks up an old picture frame, a photo of him and five of his best friends still firmly in place.

As his eyes fall on a familiar pair of brown eyes belonging to a young woman on his right, the familiar feeling of emptiness returns. He closes his eyes and suddenly, memories of their drunken night spent together fill his mind.

For the first time, he begins to think that what happened that night wasn't a mistake after all.

/

/

A year passes by before he sees her again.

He goes to an audition for an upcoming movie, hoping for a leading role. The leading actress has already been selected and critics swear that she's the best of the best to work with. He only hopes their words are true.

"Beckett Oliver?"

He looks up at the sound of a woman's voice. A young blonde with a clipboard is standing in front of him. "Yeah?" he replies.

She smiles sweetly at him. "You're next."

He stands and follows the woman down a long hallway. They zigzag through what seems like a maze before entering a small room on the right at the end of the hallway.

The room consists only of a long, skinny white table at the front and a lone chair sitting in the center of the room. Behind the table, three middle-aged men are sitting, waiting for him. A young woman is there as well, but her head is ducked low as she studies a script, obviously completely engrossed in the words on the page.

One of the men – the casting director, Beck presumes – smiles kindly at him. "Can you state your name, please, sir?"

"Beckett Oliver," he replies. He can't help but notice how the young woman on the end suddenly tenses.

The other man nods in response. "Thank you," he says. He looks down at a sheet of paper in front of him. "You'll be auditioning with Ms. Hunt," he says. He glances at the young woman. "Victoria, are you ready?"

The young brunette on the end looks up from the script finally. Her gaze falls on Beck. His heart skips a beat as he finds himself staring in a very familiar pair of brown eyes.

She smiles at Beck, though it's obviously forced. She stands and answers, "Yes. Yes, I'm ready." She walks around the table, script in hand, and takes her place in front of Beck.

"And…_action."_

His hands tremble as he holds a copy of the lines. It takes everything in him to steady his voice enough to audition. Taking a deep breath, he begins the scene.

"You don't understand the danger of this situation."

"Yes, I do." She steps toward him slowly. "But I can't pretend anymore. I can't pretend this – all of this – is okay, because it's _not_. Can't you see that?"

He shakes his head slowly. "If they find out I'm with you, God only knows what they'll do to you." He caresses her cheek gently. She flinches under his touch, but quickly recovers. "I could never take that risk. You mean too much to me."

She looks up at him with tear-filled eyes. "When will I – when will –"

"Cut!"

Tori grunts in disgust. "I'm sorry," she mutters as she wipes away the tears. "Don't – don't take it out on Beck. He did great."

"He did," the director agrees. He stands and looks at the younger woman in concern. "Ms. Hunt, maybe you'd like to take a break?"

She nods in response as she strides back to the table. She digs through her purse and pulls out her cell phone as the others stand up. "I'll be back in five," she replies. Before Beck can even comprehend what has just happened, she quickly leaves the room.

The casting director flashes a quick smile at Beck. "Thank you, Mr. Oliver. You did great." He extends his hand. "We'll be in touch."

/

/

He's halfway down the hallway when a woman's voice stops him still.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here."

He turns slowly. He smiles softly as his eyes fall on his former friend, the only girl he had ever truly wanted. "Same here," he replies. He steps toward her. "Been a while."

She nods shortly. "Over a year," she adds. She crosses her arms, and he suddenly notices the diamond on her left hand winking back at him. "How have you been?"

He shrugs. "Fine, I guess." His eyes fall on the ring. "You're married?"

Her smile widens at the question. "Yeah." She looks down at her hand. "My husband, John, has been away on business for weeks now, though. I really miss him."

Beck smiles faintly. "He's a lucky guy," he says softly. She only smiles in response.

Suddenly, her cell phone rings. She quickly pulls it out and glances at the ID. Beck watches as her eyes light up with excitement. She looks back at him. "I'm sorry, but I really have to – "

"It's fine." He steps back. "It was good to see you."

She nods in agreement. "Good to see you, too." She grins. "Maybe I can put in a good word or two for you to speed this up a bit."

He laughs. "That'd be great," he replies, "though you know I don't deserve it."

She shrugs. "That was the past. The past is the past." In her hand, her phone falls silent. She gently finishes, "It's time to move on."

It's the last thing she says to him before leaving him staring after her in the hallway that afternoon. He watches as she dials a number she knows by heart and places the phone to her ear. He listens as her voice rises a few pitches higher as she says, "Hey, baby. I've missed you. When are you coming back?" She listens for a moment, then bursts out in a joyful laugh. Beck's heart aches at how familiar that beautiful laugh is.

Within moments, she's gone, and Beck is left standing alone in the hallway. Finally, with a heavy heart, he turns and starts toward the door.

As he pushes through the set of double doors leading to cool air and the parking lot, he can't quite ignore the feeling of regret that suddenly sets in. Nonetheless, Tori's words are much too true: _it's time to move on._

After all, not everyone gets their cliché ending.


End file.
